FRANKLIN, Leonard Frederick
| Service Number: | WX576 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 9 November 1939 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 2nd/11th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Midland Junction, Western Australia, 10 May 1917 |
| Home Town: | Harvey, Harvey, Western Australia |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Farm Labourer |
| Died: | Perth, Western Australia, 13 March 1992, aged 74 years, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
Fremantle Cemetery, Western Australia Cremation |
| Memorials: | Ballarat Australian Ex-Prisoners of War Memorial, Harvey District WW2 Roll of Honour |
World War 2 Service
| 9 Nov 1939: | Enlisted Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, WX576, 2nd/11th Infantry Battalion | |
|---|---|---|
| 20 Apr 1940: | Embarked Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, WX576, 2nd/11th Infantry Battalion, embarked Fremantle for Kantara | |
| 5 Jun 1941: | Imprisoned The Battle for Crete - May 1941, • 4 Nov 1941: Officially reported PoW interned at Stalag VIIIA, Gorlitz; Stalag VIIIB now called Stalag 344 Lamsdorf; Stalag 357 Fallingbostel; (POW No: 92023) | |
| 4 Jul 1945: | Embarked Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, WX576, 2nd/11th Infantry Battalion, embarked England for Sydney | |
| 26 Sep 1945: | Discharged Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, WX576, 2nd/11th Infantry Battalion |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Chris Buckley
Private Leonard Frederick Franklin (Service No:WX576) enlisted in the AIF on 9 November 1939, and was attached to 2/11 Infantry Battalion on 20 April 1940 when he embarked with his Unit from Fremantle for Kantara. Private Franklin served in Libya, Tobruk, Derna and Benghazi, and was in Crete on 5 June 1941 when he was Reported Missing. Officially confirmed a PoW of the Germans (PoW No:92023) on 9 November 1941, Private Franklin was held at Stalag VIIIA in Gorlitz, Stalag VIIIB/Stalag 344) in Lamsdorf and Stalag 357 in Fallingbostel. Recovered from the Germans on 11 May 1945, Private Franklin was hospitalised in England for repatriation treatment before embarking for Sydney on 4 July 1945. Private Franklin was attached to 2/11 Infantry Battalion at Discharge on 26 September 1945. Three older brothers (Ernie, Darkie and Les) also served in WWII.
Len (Lenard Frederick) was born in Midland Junction, Western Australia in 1917, fifth of seven children of Herbert (Bertie) Franklin (b1886 in Melbourne, Victoria) and his first wife Alice Amy Aitken (b1890 in Melbourne, Victoria) - Bertie later gave himself the name Herbert Augustus Theodore Franklin. Bertie moved to Western Australia in the early 1900s, and was a Gardener in Leonora in 1911 when he and Alice married. The family moved often (Alice was frequently left on her own with the children) - Marrinup where Bertie was a Timber Feller, Bunbury where he was a Sleeper Hewer, Midland Junction where he worked as a Labourer and Porter, Greenbushes where he was a Guard for the Timber Corporation. Bertie enlisted briefly (August - December 1916) in the AIF (Private; Service No:8709), and in the 1920s left his family and returned to Victoria (where he remarried). Alice remarried and lived at Mt Magnet.
Len worked in Harvey as a Farm Labourer before enlisting in the Army in 1939. Following his Discharge, in 1949 in Perth, he married Margaret Honor Elizabeth Evans (b1931 in Perth, Western Australia). Len and Margaret lived in the Murchison, where Len was a Miner until the 1960s when they settled in Boulder, where Len worked as a Truck Driver. Len died in 1992 and Margaret in 2019.
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